OK. So after 22 days of fasting, I still hate fruit. The refeeding process was horrible. Fruit still looks and tastes disgusting to me. And the only foods that truly appeal to me are yogurt, fish, wild game, and soup. Raw food simply holds no appeal to me - And my body never has seemed to thrive on it. I do not feel fed on a physical or soul level eating lots of fruit - In fact it feels completely dissatisfying and non nourishing. But I have been educated to believe that I must be insane for feeling this way. That being said, I feel pretty intuitive about what my body needs. So what is the deal? What do I do?

Do what feels right for you. Part of what feels right for you is how the diet you choose treats your body. If you are happy with eating yogurt, fish, game, and soup, and you like the health you have with those foods, then why is there any conflict between what you choose and what you get?

Dancerinthenight,
I can understand the frustration and I feel for you.Remember,the right diet is the one that works.If you're happy eating what you crave and you like the quality of health you get,do it.
Brian

I agree, dancerinthenight - if fruit is repugnant to you and other things are appealing, go for those. It's very instructive for me to read of your experience because for me fruit has always been the most appealing food and I sometimes am naive and find it hard to believe that anyone cannot love fruit. If I'm ever to be able to help others with this kind of thing, it's good to be able to learn from others' experiences. And I'm sorry if I ever come across as elitist or judgmental because I happen to prefer fruit (I know that it's an easy pitfall for me).

love
Ela



seeing is freeing
hearing is clearing
feeling is healing

I just want to say that I am touched and encouraged by your attitudes. Rather than be judgemental, one-sided, or dogmatic, you all simply embrace whatever my path happens to me even if it looks different from what you might consider the ideal. That is beautiful. A lot of the other raw food websites no longer appeal to me because the participants seem to have lost perspective. I am warmed by your careful and thougtful consideration. Thank you.

I would also like to add that we are coming to abduct you for brainwashing.

Er, but yeah, the others have a good point. If you really do feel great, then there is no conflict. My tastes have changed the more I eat raw, so that I don't really enjoy non-raw foods (most of them!).

It could be that you have some hypersensitivities to some of the fruit and vegetable proteins. These will be somewhat denatured with heat and more tolerable. The hypoallergenic allergy testing eliminiation diets usually specify cooked fruits with some of the better tolerated meats, such as lamb.

I can't imagine eating flesh foods anymore, they are anti-appealing on so many different levels. I would try just about anything before reverting to that.

You could consider incorporating some vegan transition foods to make a vegan mostly raw diet more "satisfying" such as one of the rice or hemp protein powders, cooked sweet potato, and cooked legumes including soy yogurt.

It doesn't take much.

Making a huge raw vegetable salad and adding a few tbsp of hot cooked legumes, a few shelled walnuts, and maybe a half of a sweet potato will make it more stick to your ribs-ish without the cruelty factor.

The same is true for adding a tbsp of vegan protein powder and 2 tbsp of vegan soy yogurt to a big bowl of mixed fruits along with some freshly shelled nuts.

With time you might find that you can cut back on these additions. But there is no promise that it will work for you. If you have hypersensitivities to fruit you might also have them for legumes, grains, and nuts/seeds. The only way to know for sure is to go on a strict elimination diet of foods you tolerate well and adding only one new food at a time every few days, monitoring your reactions. As an alternative, you could get allergy tested by a medical professional. That would be quicker but also more expensive.

Dancer,

I agree completely with what others have said: Eat what feels right for you.

Did you become interested in raw foods out of some particular health concern?

I was just wondering what kind of fast you were doing? And if you've ever done a longer one?

Just wondering because for me personally, I have the best results with fasts over 35 days. My taste buds seem to change with each fast. I recently did my longest fast at 45 days and for the first time ever "SAD" food, even pizza does nothing for me. I took a sip of milk because I wanted to see how I'd feel and I wanted to gag. lol I know after 22 days you probably don't want to do another one but if you ever do, you might want to consider trying for longer and see if anything is different.

Vegetables have never appealed to me. Years ago I ate about 5 different kinds cooked and usually out of a can. On SAD, (Atkins to be exact) I'd only eat them if they were hidden in soup and then I finally got into salads because I found a dressing that I liked (Ceaser) and started eating more "raw" vegetables by hiding them with dressing and using less and using "healthier" dressings like olive oil and vinegar and finally started developing a taste for them. I don't crave them but I can tollerate them and don't mind them now. I've had my juicer for a year and gave up after a few times.. Then recently just been able to figure out veggie combos that I don't gag over and my body craves now.

If you still believe in raw and aren't giving up completley, I'd suggest finding ways to sneak it in and wean off of cooked. If soup appeals to you why not cook the veggies in it less and less until they're pretty much raw?

So you can't eat fruit; can you drink it? Have you tried blending smoothies? Even if you have to "hide" it with a sweetener . It'll probably never be your favorite food if it's never appealed to you, but it's worth a try to at least get some in for the nutrients/health benefits.

I don't know what kind of diet you're on but if you're interested in eating healthy and acid/akaline balance or digestion or anything these sites my be helpful..
[www.askmoreless.com]
[www.regaininghealthnaturally.com]
They're not raw food sites and have good info on eating healthy in general. The 2nd one has good info on candida/yeast.. I know you asked about that before.

I don't like fruit either, but then I had (till recently) a sugar problem. The sweetness of fruit never ever will come close to fake refined sugar in chocolate. If this sounds like you, my advice is to cold turkey the sugar, and never go back. You body and life will be better for it. Fruit becomes acceptable in the end and you can make stuff like raw cheesecakes that will easily crush sugar cravings. I actually like strawberries, blackberries, and mangoes (only the Pakistani variety though. I don't like the Brazilian or Indian) now and other fruits like apples and pears become acceptable because of how they make you feel.

Raw foodism of at least 80% is for EVERYBODY -providing you have the willpower to get over the reconditioning and detox stages and are open minded to it. And also depending on your goals. It is a 'fringe' way of life but how important is your health at 60 for you? How important is your figure and your experience?

Oh and another tip -stay away from Alissa Cohen's food forum. They will make you feel crap about any decisions you make that are against their beloved way of life.

Fruit never satisfied me either until after about 6 months of lots of dark green leafy things. I used to be a major protein person- beef, chicken, fish, lamb, duck ete etc. For some reason the dark greens really took away my protein cravings, so if you are determined to keep trying the raw diet, I would suggest trying the dark greens.

Or you could always be raw like Carol Alt I suppose- she's neither vegan nor vegetarian. I think the main thing is to just eat more raw fruits & vegetables.

Yes good tip sunshine

"Raw foodism of at least 80% is for EVERYBODY -providing you have the willpower to get over the reconditioning and detox stages and are open minded to it."

I completely agree with this Sienna. So far 80% is where I feel best.

dancerinthenight - I agree with everything that the others have written. If you feel meat needs to be a part of your diet then you should definitely include it. No judgments here!!

<3



My website: The Coconut Chronicles

dancerinthenight,

What has been going on for you since you left the fasting retreat? Are you easing into eating food OK? Do you still feel like the healing from the fast is going on? Are you working yet, or are you still in a recuperation mode?

dancerinthenight,

Thank _you_ for being open to what everyone here has to share.

I'm going to talk more about this in another thread soon but wanted to mention that there is a whole style of rawfoodism that is not vegan at all and that I'm about to be in the midst of people who eat like that for an extended period of time. It's going to be a challenge for me and I'm going to seek support here and elsewhere.

If you are still curious about rawfoods but feel that that sort of diet (which we don't discuss here) might interest you. There's a book called 'We Want to Live' by Aajonus Vonderplanitz that might be a good place to start.

love
Ela



seeing is freeing
hearing is clearing
feeling is healing

Wow. So many wonderful tips. And a lot of questions.

I actually have changed heart since I posted this message. I think I figured it out. The truth is that I have not experienced hunger in years. Even breaking the fast, I felt no hunger at all - And I could have fasted a lot longer had boredom not gotten the best of me. And weight concerns. At 5'9" and 102 pounds upon completion, I did not really want to sink that much deeper. But I tend to eat when I am not hungry - And nothing really does it for me.

I actually have been horrible to my body since the fast. I came back home, felt super self conscious in my skinny body in dance class, and on some dimented plane figured that gorging myself with cookies, ice cream, chips, etc would be helpful. Thank God I came to my senses. The food was an assault to my body but I in no way feel that it undid all the marvelous healing that I did. I just have to get back on track and accept my body where it is - Celebrate it in fact.

I do think that I will make it on raw. The more I try these cooked foods that I think/thought I enjoyed, the more my body says no. I will keep you updated. Greens are definitely key for me - And so is low fat - Candida history....

Thank you all so much. You rock!